Here is my new (to me) 74 F100! Ranger XLT, 390 auto, factory ps pb ac car.

You won't belive me for a second but I got it for free! 109k verified miles with receipts all the way back to the first inspection In 1973.

Ok now before you go any further reading this, I want you to underatand 3 things. I am 21 years old, I am on a very small budget, and I am 0 dollars into this truck and the engine I already have lined up for it. Be thankful that a young guy wants to work on it, and be thankful its ford motor going back in it.

DO NOT READ OR RESPOND TO THIS THREAD IF YOU WILL BE MAD AT ME REMOVING THE ORIGINAL 390 AND REPLACING IT WITH A SMALL BLOCK.

I have received some not so nice messages already on some other forums and sites, particularly, I have had people message me... "very agressively" to put it nicely, because I am swapping the 390 for a 351W. Ive been a member of FTE in the past, this crew has always been good. I would be on my old account if I could remember the dang email

Now with that said:

Its been sitting since 12/95. P/O blew the transmission, bought another truck and parked it under the shed. Motor is beyond locked up. I had purchased a 96 F150 with a 351W for my 10th gen, but thats a lost cause. Im on a tight budget and the un-needed parts from the donor that I sold were enough to pay for the engine. So I think I will swap in the 351W and AOD. Have a nice little small block cruiser.

Currently this is the exact situation: I had a 98 F150, V6 auto. Picked it up running for 400 bucks with a bad trans. Put a trans in it, it wouldnt run. Spent 1200 bucks making it run. Find out my new transmission is bad. Take it back, truck sits a year at the trans shop. Finally have enough, go and pick it up. Guy has stolen my battery, cats, and radio. Nice. Proceed to buy a 97 v6 5 speed truck with a blown motor. Swap engines, and that motor proceeds to blow up in my face.

So then I bought a wrecked but still running 96 Eddie Bauer F150. Sold as many parts as I didnt need and made back the $1200 it cost me to buy it. = completely free 351W engine. I have everything that even remotely touched the engine as well.

Look more into 351W swap into 97. Start planning, then get a free 74 F100 from my neighbor. Locked up 390, brakes stuck, transmission, crossmember, and driveshaft missing among other parts like the radiator, starter. Carb and dizzy arent bolted down. But big deal. Because 351W swaping a 97 is alot more of a headache than 351W swapping a 74 F100.

pretty much, I am into this project exactly $1.00, because it cost me a dollar for the grinding wheel it took to cut the rear drums off that were seized to the shoes and rear end.

I think I will turn this thread into my build thread. I already have a pretty good idea of what will be needed to put a 351W / AOD in place of a stuck 390 and a missing C6. Ive done alot of reading and research. I already have to buy a transmission, and go though all the other major components of the truck such as replacing the radiator, going through the fuel system. I still have lots of spare parts left over from the other trucks I've had as well.

Im 21, I dont have alot of money. But ive definitely owned my fair share of these. My first truck ever was a 76 F100, 302 3 speed manual. It was a true bare bones truck, I really beleive the 302 and the long bed were the only boxes checked on that truck. Ive also had a couple F250's, a couple supercabs, I even owned a crew cab once for all of a day and a half when I was 18. I know my way around them enough.

Its not going to be a total resto. Or another coyote supercharged with all this crazy fab. As many wild and cool ideas I have, right now my number one goal number one is make the truck move on its own power.

Anyways, heres pictures of it home. I haven't named it yet. She needs alot of work, but the interior is amazing and the body and frame is still super solid, especially for a 52 year old pickup. Im glad to be back in a dentside, ive been driving chevys and dodges the past couple years. They are the reason my budget is so tight on this one.







I guess eventually you learn that paying for the parts to fix something yourself is alot cheaper than a car payment, or paying someone else to fix something.

Yeah, this is gonna be a build thread. Its going to get real interesting seeing what I come up with for the acessories systems on a budget. I have a Volt meter gauge kit for a 73-79 cluster, so I can run the 3g alternator. I can also have a custom power steering hose made for the high pressure side. Low pressure side is just a rubber hose and clamps if im not mistaken.

For the A/C, im planning to re use the 96 Sanden compressor. Im going to re use the fittings from both the 74 hoses and the 96 hoses, run a new parts store replacement dryer, and have some custom barrier hoses crimped onto my existing fittings. Then, I can wire the high pressure, low pressure, and ambient temp sensor in series from the A/C switch to the A/C compressor clutch. The new parts store dryers have filters in them that are good for R134a. Although, I may take the time to replace EVERYTHING including the compressor, and just charge it with propane. I had a 97 Nissan Sentra that used propane. The air coming out of the vents on a 100 degree southeastern day was just 12 degrees. That is the best A/C I have ever had in a car.

I also need to set up a carb system. Im probably going to run a new tank and sending unit, a carb conversion, and im going to have to figure out the TV cable geometry and throttle linkage.

Among the other things a truck that has sat 30 years needs. Such as every single rubber component ever. This also applies to all of the glass seals, and its high on my list, just above repairing the 2 very tiny holes in the floor.

I am also having second thoughts on the AOD. I have an SROD and a M5R2 laying around right now, both out of 180k ish miles trucks. And I have a brand new 351 flywheel dual drilled for an 11 or an 11.5 clutch.

But the AOD would be a better cruiser, more friendly in traffic and on longer drives. This truck will see the innerstate alot, the lady freind is abouIsa 4 hour drive away mostly by innerstate. So this truck will need to be comfortable at 80 mph.

Those long drives are another reason I think thr 351W is worth it. If it breaks down, I can just walk a mile down a ditch bank in anywhere, america and find all the parts I would need to rebuild that engine twice.

I cant walk around my own property without jamming my toes on a sbf something.

Anyways, enough talking. I hope yall will enjoy this thread as much as I enjoy this truck. This will be a fun project, I hope to connect with people who are just as enthusiastic about these trucks as I am.

Also, any name suggestions for the truck will be considered.

 

First inspection receipt, from November 1973.

 

Welcome!
Swapping the engine is going to require motor mounts at a minimum. I believe they'll work from a 67-79 model 2WD 302. I'm someone else knows for sure, but I don't think these trucks ever came with the 351W, but the mounts from 302 should be the same.
https://www.fordification.com/tech/engine-perches.htm

 

sounds like this has been well thought out.
Looking forward to following your progress.
I like the patina. How about "Patches" for a name given the patchwork appearance of the truck?

 

Yes, from my research 302 mounts 73-79 or 351M/400 mounts 77-79 will work.

I am not sure on the bump parts, but I dont see anywhere near the bump sides around as I do the dent sides anyways. But it is probably worth the look.

The only 351 these had stock was the M, and the only windsor engine was the 302. 351M wasn't available until 1977, 302 was available for all years on 2wd F100 / F150, im not sure on 4x4 availability but I have read that there was not a 302 option in the 4x4 either.

Somebody else can step in there and correct me if I am wrong, usually I try to reference back to anything NumbersDummy has said if I am unsure.

Thank you for the welcome!

 

patches sounds interesting, I'll write it down!

 

I'd also recommending pulling that carpet out of the floor now and see what you've got. Carpet that's been sitting a while like that can hold moisture and rust things out.

 

I've been able to peel it back. It is moist, and there are a couple very small holes, but it is nothing compared to what I have delt with.

We are In the middle of a super freeze here in the southeast, when it warms up and I have a day off, I plan on cleaning the truck up, washing it, all that stuff. I would pull it in my shop, but my dodge diesel truck has a blown transmission, and its taking up all the space in there typical dodge




This is the floor pan. I could not hold the carpet and insulation back with my one hand while taking this picture. But the floors look very solid, I have dealt with much worse.



I will be pulling the carpet, I would like to switch to black. Somebody sells an ABS plastic headliner? The cardboard whatever in this has sunk. I wouldnt mind to get a hold of that plastic one, and just buy my own material. I also have brand new chrome headliner trim in my shop among many things.

Bit higher on my list is new door seals, window seals, windhseild and rear glass seals. No use in repairing the floors if im going keep letting water drip in and ruin them again. My next paycheck will be used to buy all new rubber components, probably from LMC, my second favorite place to shop. No, third. Maybe...

I might convert the mirrors as well to the ones like I had on this 78 F150 I had several years back in my teen years. I dont have the matching passenger mirror for the 74, but I do have about 3 sets of these. I forget what they are called.



On the right is actually my first truck. You may be able to use that image to find my old account on here. I think i went by Salteen or something similar, I can't remember. But im a long time lurker and a fairly inactive member the past few years.

Heres more of my 76, and a few others I have had.

 

Got off work today. Got home and my co worker helped me pull the truck up to my backyard.




I had first thought that the crank handle was just stripped. So i went back to the shop to get some vice grips and a suction cup in case it was stuck. That did not work and I soon realized that the actual shaft that the handle screws onto is stripped out inside the gear.

So I went to pull the door panel off. Looked closer and found that this panel has ALREADY been off, as evident by the screws.



I would also like to give a shout out to the world biggest dummy (myself) for DUCT TAPING a trashbag to 52 year old paint. This did not end well. But I found out all that red on the bedside is actually primer, so this was sort of good in a way.



So after I got the panel off, I shined my light up and thought I saw a way to grab the window assembly and just pull the window. You would think you could just pull the window up. But no.

Even got my special needle nose pliers to reach up there.



these and any other tools I had did not work.

My co worker has a lock pick set he used to open the factory bedside toolbox door. It works wonderfully. So thats good news.



I have ran out of day light and it is getting cold fast. I have to be at work at 8 tomorrow, so I am currently retreated into my house for some supper as I type this. Its only supposed to get down to 40 degrees tonight, so I might be able to go back out and tinker some more.

I also found this cancer in the door and door jamb.




A little unfortunate, but its bothing awful.

I think I might just try to stick a trash bag back over it, this time with some painters tape so that I am less likely to damage the paint. Then I will pull the seat and carpet to assess the floor damage a little further. I may also bring some more light out and clean the bed out.

The kick test tells me the floors are pretty solid besides what I see. Hopefully its all just surface rust. I have rust inhibitor, I might hit it tonight.

I have a half work day tomorrow, off at lunch so I will have more time and better weather to wash the truck tomorrow and figure out the window. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

I also found these pictures of the donor truck from a month ago if anybody is interested in seeing that.







Oil is older, but not milky, doesnt smell of fuel or anything weird, just a little low on viscosity. Looks healthy.

It runs 60 psi cold 40 hot, about 145 ish on all 8 with a variance no more than 10 psi.

 

Recruited some free manual labor tonight in the form of a very good freind. We got the seats and carpet out, and assessed the real extent of the rust. Its alot more than I had first imagined, but its still very repairable, I beleive its repairable without needing new floor pans.

Some pictures I captured

 

Not too bad

 

I agree! I think its patchable without needing a replacement pan. Im going to run over to the hardware store or someplace and grab some rust inhibitor, primer, and some sheet metal. I beleive some 14 gauge sheet will work just fine. I got paid today, ordered new windsheild rubber, window rubber, rear window rubber.

My window regulator for the passenger door is shot. Im going to go to the junkyard later today and search for one. Im also going to remove the speakers from the door, and leave the door panels off for now. I want to see if I can repair the screw handles in the door.

I also thought about removing the padding and trim from the panel and re using it on a black door panel. Since I am going with black carpet, I figured a black door panel would look pretty cool.

I could also just rob the door panels from my 79. They are some cloth panels I home made with some old furniture that was given to me. Im not sure yet, but the headliner will be coming out as well.

The rest of the interior seems okay, and the dash pad is actually in perfect shape.

Well, the bench seat is veey faded. I thought it was just gray / green two tone, but the fabric is actually supposed to be sage green. It is just super sun faded.

The more I look at the body, the more I think somebody was in the middle of body work on this truck when it was parked. I wonder if a full resto was planned, but never happened? Or maybe a minor fender bender, I am unsure. But what I do know is that all that red on the bedside is primer, and there is gray primer on the front half of the passenger fender.

Its about 50 degrees outside today. A little cold but I think its just warm enough to where I can wash the truck, and clean up the inside real well. Im going to bring some of the parts from the truck inside, calling for a rainstorm soon. I'll update this thread later with pictures.

 

Update: Its always rains whenever I have time to wash any of my vehicles. Without fail

Anyways, I got the truck washed. started washing, 5 minutes in, rain starts pouring. Great. I just keep going because this is supposed to be a 3 hour pour that was supposed to start at 2 pm...

Finish washing the truck, and it slows down to just a drizzle as soon as I finish...

Anyways, heres some pictures of the paint and body damage. I am unsure if the truck was repainted at some point? Not sure. I know lime green metallic and Wimbledon white are my 2 factory colors, combination tu tone.












What do yall think? Im probably going to leave it as is for a while, maybe just fix the dents. But I am not sure what happened with this paint at all.

The stuff on the bedside top came off on my brush. All I used was Rain-X high foam car wash soap and a handle brush, and one of those foam hand pads you use to hand wash to get in the crevices and details of the grille and trim.

 

Before I call it a night, I wanted to update with these pictures I got found from when my dad drug it home around 2020 ish I beleive. This truck has been around a while. But legally its a one owner. The guy passed away, the original owners son gave it to my dad, who found out the motor is locked up, and gave up. Now it is in my hands. I got a hold of the guy, this is what he said when I questioned him about the truck.

"Good luck on your project. I am definitely looking forward to seeing the finished product. It sure will bring back some very precious memories for me! If memory serves me right, that truck has not run since at least 1998. The motor that's in it was put in by two men that my dad trusted, and they literally screwed him. He just did not have the funds to put it back like it was at the time. My dad had originally ordered that truck and paid extra for the dealership to put in a police interceptor engine. Somewhere in here I have a box of his stuff, in there is the receipts and warranty paperwork for that truck, and the special warranty on the engine. The truck was brought to the dealer with no engine, and they shipped the police interceptor engine from the engine plant down to the dealership on a truck. After the engine quit, It stayed at his service station and then the garage covered just like it was when you and your dad came over to get it that day it is not been out from undercover until until y'all picked it up that day. That trucks odometer has only rolled once, I have every receipt for everything that was ever done to that truck since my dad picked it up in November 1973. The last receipt I have is for the transmission rebuild at 08113.7 miles. If you go back about 5 years, there is oil change receipts at 90,000+ miles, and the mieleage gradually goes down and down from there until 23 miles on the purchase paperwork. One thanks for sure, I know it's old, but it's in good shape for what it is. By the way, that C6 transmission has less than 1,000 miles on it when the motor blew. That transmission is literally, inside my shed, brand new. I know it's got to be pulled and checked but that transmission should be in top notch shape. Its in my shed out back. I absolutely did not realize that that driveshaft and crossmember was not in that truck. Brother, I have absolutely no idea where in the name of God it could possibly be. My dad, God rest his soul just unfortunately trusted people that he really shouldn't have. I had to warn him off of a couple people. But he believed in giving everybody a chance. It bit him more times than I've got fingers and toes. That was the very first truck that my dad ever bought brand new. But I can promise you there's not a drive shaft or crossmember under that shed with the truck was. And I absolutely did not know that that driveshaft was not in that truck. When those boys were "fixing"dad's truck, they really put the screws to him. When we get together after this winter storm, we can talk to Jesus and Carlos who ran my dad's shop on Bonham Avenue where that truck was forever. There is a possibility that that driveshaft and crossmember might be there, but at this point, unfortunately it probably is gone. But I'll help you out any way I can."

So thats the actual story behind the truck.
-Bought new
-Original owners paid extra to have a have a Police Interceptor 390 stuck in there as a special order
-driven a shade over 109,000 miles before the engine and transmission let go around the same time
-got screwed on the engine
-truck sits in town for years
-owner passes away, son inherits truck
-son sells old service station
-has major work injury, any hope to restore his dad's truck are gone
-gives the truck to my dad
-dad has too many projects, gives truck to me
-we are now here in present day 2026.

Very intriguing story. Im glad to know the paperwork is still around. Im going to go pick it up and document it here. Very cool this truck had a "kind of" factory 390 Police Interceptor engine. So maybe the engine isnt locked up because of the carb sitting off, but rather because some Tom D**k and Harry tried to fix it. It might not even have the original 390 Police Interceptor, or even a 390 anything in it. I do know its an FE motor, it could be a 352 for all I know.

Anyways, im rambling at this point. Heres some pictures dad has of when he drug it home. He also found some pictures from when he used my wheels from my 76 to roll it around. Those would be 15x8 wagon wheels on 255/60 cooper cobras. I think I want to run that wheel and tire, it looks good on this truck.